News and Happenings

Dr. Bob dials up Dr. Donald Berwick for a big-picture discussion about improving healthcare – generally, and as it relates to COVID. Don talks about the origins of the patient safety movement, his time running the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services during the passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and what lessons he’s taking away from the pandemic. Plus, how to tackle the longstanding inequities in health care – and beyond – in America.

Dr. Bob calls up Brown economist Emily Oster to discuss one of the most complicated and controversial issues of the pandemic: what to do about schools. Emily created the COVID-19 School Response Dashboard, a database that indicates that schools aren’t a significant source of COVID-19 spread. She also talks about how the school debate ended up getting politicized, what it’s like doing real-time data analysis, what elements need to be in place for successful school reopening, and how she’s managed her own kids during the pandemic.

Dr. Bob talks about the importance of leadership, whether it’s during a pandemic or a flight that’s lost all engine power, with Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger. The parallels between the two might not seem obvious, but Sully points out that the basic elements of good leadership can be applied in any situation. He also talks about how he and the crew landed Flight 1549 safely in the Hudson River, what lessons he took from that famous flight, and what caused him to speak out against what he calls a “vacuum of leadership” during the pandemic. Plus, what it’s like to have Tom Hanks play you in a movie.

Dr. Bob gets the inside scoop of what went down inside Trump’s FDA from the former commissioner himself, Dr. Stephen Hahn. In his first interview since stepping down on January 20th, Steve recounts his dizzying year heading the agency, including his decisions to grant Emergency Use Authorizations to hydroxychloroquine and convalescent plasma, how he ultimately defended a science-based vaccine approval process, and the unprecedented political pressure he felt throughout. Plus, how he’s processing everything that happened now that he’s been out of D.C. for a few weeks.

Dr. Bob calls up infectious disease epidemiologist Julia Marcus to discuss risk, a concept many of us thought more about in the past year than ever before. Julia, a Harvard professor and contributor to The Atlantic, talks about why people take risks, the danger in stigmatizing risk-taking, and how to weigh the benefits and costs surrounding risk during the pandemic. They also cover pandemic fatigue and how Julia envisions the return to a new normal. Plus, the first Andy update from Lana!

Dr. Bob calls up Dr. Julie Gerberding to address vaccines, the CDC, and how public trust factors into both. Julie has vast experience with all of those topics, having served as president of Merck vaccines and also as CDC director under George W. Bush, the first woman to serve in that role. First, Bob and Julie discuss the vaccine rollout, how the variants may affect things, and Merck’s failed efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Then, an important discussion about the CDC, and how to avoid politics from interfering with science in the future. Plus, the lifelong lessons she learned about infectious diseases during the HIV epidemic as Bob’s Chief Resident at UCSF in the 80s.

Dr. Bob calls up a friend – Dr. Atul Gawande – to bring clarity and empathy to some pretty complicated issues. Atul, a practicing surgeon and bestselling author, recently finished serving on the Biden transition’s COVID-19 task force. Atul discusses the work of the task force, how best to handle vaccines and the schools, and what COVID-19 has taught him about our healthcare system, our politics, and our approach to death and dying.

Now that we are a couple of months into the vaccine rollout, we wanted to answer more of your vaccine-related questions. Dr. Bob asks Paul Offit your questions about what more we’ve learned about the vaccines in terms of safety, efficacy and vaccinating kids. Ruth Faden tackles your questions about the ethics of deciding who gets the shots first, jumping the line, and vaccination passports. Plus, Dr. Bob and his wife Katie Hafner discuss what it’s like when one person in a bubble is vaccinated and the other isn’t.

On the first day of President Biden’s term, Dr. Bob takes a look at the toll the pandemic is having right now in Los Angeles – the epicenter of the nation’s winter surge – with emergency room physician Erika Flores Uribe and Hal Yee, Chief Medical Officer with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.

If you were worried that a new host would mean a completely different show, let this Monday Toolkit ease your fears. Dr. Bob poses your questions about the so-called UK and South African variants to virologist Angela Rasmussen and evolutionary biologist Paul Turner. You’ll get answers about what the variants mean for the vaccines, how they affect kids, how to adjust your behavior in response to them, and much more.